1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of trench drains, and more particularly, to a modular trench drain system.
2) Description of the Prior Art
The general concept of trench drains is well-known in the prior art. Trench drains are used where extensive amounts of liquid must be moved from one place to another. The trench drains typically transport the liquid to a drainage sewer. Typically, trench drains are U-shaped or V-shaped troughs and are installed adjacent to either roadways or buildings. They are installed in the ground and secured in concrete. In many cases, the trench drains include a grate to prevent large debris and people from falling into them.
Trench drain systems include several basic designs: concrete, metal and plastic. Generally, concrete trench drain systems use forms. The forms are placed in a ditch dug in the ground. Concrete is then poured around the forms, which are removed after the concrete has set, see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,878. Trench drain systems made in accordance with this method or similar methods result in relatively expensive systems due to the cost of installing and removing the forms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,545 discloses a metal trench drain for use in a trench drain system. This type of trench drain results in high costs due to transportation, manufacture and installation. Also, precast concrete trench drains result in similar costs for a trench drain system.
Many of the expenses associated with these prior art trench drain systems have been overcome by the advent of polymeric trench drains, which can be left in place after the concrete has been poured in place, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,165. These trench drains perform two functions. First, they act as a form for the concrete; and second, they act as a liner. The manufacture and transportation costs with this type of trench drain are significantly less than the other types of trench drains.
However, trench drain systems made of polymeric trench drains have problems not associated with the other types of trench drain systems, namely buckling due to the expansion of the trench drains. This typically occurs when the trench drains are installed in colder weather. They then expand in hotter weather due to the polymeric materials' high coefficient of expansion. The embedding concrete prevents the trench drains from expanding in a longitudinal direction. Therefore, the trench drains buckle to compensate for this expansion. Further, the trench drains can deform during installation when wet concrete is poured around the periphery of the trench drains. This is due to the pressure of wet concrete against the trench drain walls.
Furthermore, as in all of the above trench drain systems, installing the polymeric trench drains require a substantial amount of hardware, i.e., nuts and bolts, which adds not only to the cost, but can also result in delays, should the installer run out of this hardware.
Therefore, it is an object of our invention to provide a polymeric trench drain which will not buckle due to temperature variations.
It is also an object of our invention to provide a trench drain system that is easy to install and transport.
It is also an object of our invention to provide a trench drain that will not deform during installation due to the pressure of wet concrete poured about the periphery of the trench drain.
It is yet another object of our invention to minimize the amount of extraneous hardware required to install the trench drains.